Sunday, February 28, 2010
Money In The Bank Looking For First Key Win
MATCH OF THE WEEK: Latino Pool Legends (2-1, 14/7) @ Money in the Bank (1-2, 10/11) - Tuesday, 7:00
When the season started Money in the Bank had the look of a powerful team. Don't let the first few weeks of the season fool you. A lot of teams would be 1-2 after playing reigning Champion Break and Run, newcomers Ultimate Outlaws, and undefeated Pool Fiction. Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of the season so far for MIB has been the number of shots ta.lent has taken this season. Matt broke against BNR's zl_stu_lz in the first week and got ran. Then last week against Pool Fiction, the exact same thing happened against xlx_ogges_xlx. Matt's now 0-3. But on a far more positive note xxl_themachine_lxx has been unstoppable. A 3-0 record for Simon with a clinch and two saves, most recently the game four victory over Pool Fiction's xlx_bpk_xlx which gave his team a chance to come back. There are a lot of donuts in the win column for MIB's players. In order to win, the top players need to prove they actually can be reliable.
Latino Pool Legends has one loss and it came against a very tough Straightshots team. LPL also saw a Universal Interleague Competition season end in the Semi-Final round after just four players showed up to play. Don't be alarmed. These guys put an added emphasis on performing well in Major League Pool. Ant has stepped down to the role of Co-Captain and promoted LegendaryAsshole to the Captain spot. MJ has plenty of experience as a Captain all over the place. The question is whether or not he's as familiar with this specific group of players as Ant is though. Perhaps it won't matter.
MIB is overdue for a very strong performance. They'll need one Tuesday night. LPL's top dogs have compiled their share of wins so far. I think MIB comes up with the best match they've played so far, and a very good opportunity to jump back into the top six. Something has to give. MIB's lone win was over Ultimate Outlaws in their only home match so far. LPL is 2-0 as the visiting team. Going with the gut instinct, MIB is simply primed to go off this week and win 4-3.
Straightshots (2-1, 12/9) @ Sexy Poolerz (1-2, 11/10) - Monday, 6:00
Straightshots contributed to a long string of 4-3 decisions spanning eight days over the past two weeks. In fact it was SS which started that run back on February 17 by beating LPL 4-3 and then suffered a 4-3 defeat at the hands of Xtreme 8Ball last week. Despite that Straightshots is coming off a dominant Big League Tour performance after both xsoubanhx and youngen_kikinazz reached the Finals Sunday night. It was Jamie's (not to be confused with xlx_bpk_xlx) first action of the season while Pita bounced back from a game seven loss and won the event. Along the way, Pita defeated Sexy Poolerz's mvp.cubs which led to an outburst on the MLP Shoutbox which had to be partially removed. More on that below.
Sexy Poolerz suffered a second 4-3 loss last week at the end of then-cellar dweller True Champs. In fact it was the aforementioned mvp.cubs who lost the seventh game to TC's killah_jason. SP will find out during the day or before the match tonight how long Adam will be in the Penalty Box, and details surrounding Sunday night's Big League Tour controversy can be found further below. As for who is left for Sexy Poolerz they can be sure to play with an edge after a World Pool Championship match with Pool Fiction was cut short due to SP leaving the interleague after a disqualification in game three. Straightshots has looked much sharper than SP so far in MLP but there's still the question of who plays and who sits. Sexy Poolerz has a far more stable lineup and if Ketan and Pete continue to play as they have so far they have a legitimate chance. SP hangs around, but Straightshots should pull away and take a 4-3 or 5-2 victory.
Break and Run (2-1, 11/10) @ True Champs (1-2, 6/15) - Monday, 7:00
True Champs' overall record is still tied with Extreme Cues for the worst in Major League Pool but TC did pick up a win last week over Sexy Poolerz. dx.fanatic and n00b_playa turned in solid wins and killah_jason sealed the deal in the decisive seventh game. Unfortunately this week TC goes against one of the powerhouses of Season 14. No team-specific paragraphs necessary for this one. Break and Run is a handful of steps up from True Champs and while TC does have the ability to steal a couple of wins, I think BNR can take a comfortable 5-2 or 6-1 win here.
Ultimate Outlaws (0-3, 7/14) @ Xtreme 8 Ball (3-0, 16/5) - Wednesday, 6:00
Normally when an undefeated team plays a winless team it's so cut and dry the expected result is fairly close to a sweep. Ultimate Outlaws as a whole is overmatched this week against a solid X8B team. The problem is UO can be a little streaky so while it really shows when they're bad... It's a visible difference when a few players have it going before the match. The Outlaws followed up a near-upset 3-4 decision to Money in the Bank with a 2-5 loss at the hands of Latino Pool Legends. Now the gauntlet run continues for Captain xlx_skill_xlx and the 2-0 xxx_seal_team_warrior_xxx.
Xtreme 8 Ball brought merely two eligible players to a UIC Semi-Final match with Xtreme Poolerz Saturday. At a glance this could raise reliability concerns within the team but it's important to note this match was moved to this particular time. X8B will come prepared and won't play down to UO's level. Look for these guys to keep rolling after outlasting Straightshots 4-3 last week. My guess is X8B does take it a little easier than usual leaving themselves open for an upset bid, but statistically the best team in MLP still takes the match 5-2.
Pool Fiction (3-0, 12/9) @ Extreme Cues (0-3, 6/15) - Thursday, 8:00
This is a trap game for Pool Fiction. After a tough stretch of matches against Sexy Poolerz, Break and Run, and Money in the Bank PFN has to take on an Extreme Cues team which is better than its 6/15 record. It's no secret what Pool Fiction will do. Jamie returned last week but fell in a clinching opportunity to MIB's Simon. msc_masta has clinched all three of PFN's wins including a pair of those wins coming in the seventh game against SP and BNR. One problem Pool Fiction has is a tendancy to play down to an opponent's level, or perceived level. There is a clear talent disparity between the top and bottom of EC's lineup, but that has never stopped teams from springing the upset on PFN in the past.
Extreme Cues so far has been a story of "so close, yet so far." Disqualifications have severely damaged the team to the point where it has cost EC a major upset. Last week ___imaj___ suffered a DQ after Extreme Cues misinterpreted the weekly eligibility rule. Extreme Cues lost 4-3 to luisj_barreto and Break and Run. AJ, UN_NATURAL, and mvp_croz are very formidable foes and very capable of pulling off a major upset Thursday night. One thing that helps PFN is a 6:00 match against a solid Straightshots team in WPC on the same night. I like Pool Fiction with a 5-2 victory but don't be surprised by anything.
There's no need to worry about a possible rematch between Straightshot xsoubanhx and Sexy Pooler mvp.cubs. Adam earned himself time in the penalty box as a result of the public complaints aired out after losing to Pita Sunday night. At issue was the fact Adam had asked Pita to record their tournament game. Soubanh did not respond to the request and played it as a normal game. Adam argued because Pita did not decline the request, he gave an implied agreement.
"The guy never said yes or no to cam," Adam said. "If he didn't want it to be then he woulda said no."
No penalty has been formally announced yet but Major League Pool Admin kingvaughan indicated a punishment of at least one week in the Penalty Box. A typical penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct which warrants the use of the Penalty Box is ten days. A ten day box from the night of the incident would carry into not only this week's match with Straightshots but also the March 10 match against Ultimate Outlaws. Because the match is scheduled within that ten-day frame at the time of the offence Adam would miss it even if the SP-UO match were to be moved to Thursday night.
In a heated conversation following the Big League Tour Adam still contended he was correct. Adam also claimed because instant messages to two Admins went unanswered he was justified in going to the shoutbox and sarcastically encouraging Major League Pool to "keep letting aimers in."
In addition to rule 1 regarding "Sportsmanship, Behavior, and Consequences" there is a notice in MLP's rules addressing appeals. It states: "If you disagree with a decision made you may appeal to the Head Admin. The Head Admin will, if the appeal is deemed valid consult the ENTIRE Admin Team. They will vote on whether or not to change/overturn the decision. REMEMBER the Head Admin's decision is final. Appeals will only be taken if they are presented in a mature manner."
mvp.cubs has played one game this season for Sexy Poolerz. He is 0-1 with a loss in last week's deciding game to killah_jason of True Champs. Adam's punishment is expected to be announced well before Monday night's SS-SP match.
...Stay classy MLP.
